FROM THE 9/11 MEMORIAL MUSEUM

A CEREMONY AND PREVIEWS FOR THE 9/11 COMMUNITY PRECEDES THE HISTORIC OPENING OF THE NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL MUSEUM

A Days-Long Dedication Period with a Ceremony and Museum Previews is for 9/11 Families, 9/11 Survivors, 9/11 Rescue and Recovery Workers and Others Before the Public Opening. The Public Opening of the 9/11 Memorial Museum is May 21

New York March 24, 2014 – A ceremony and previews for the 9/11 community will lay the path for the opening of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, marking a milestone in American history, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum announced today.

A tribute-filled Dedication Period, which includes the ceremony and previews, is planned for 9/11 families, 9/11 rescue and recovery workers, active duty first responders from agencies that lost members in the 9/11 attacks, 9/11 survivors and lower Manhattan residents and business owners before the Museum’s public opening. The Dedication Period is from May 15 through May 20. The Museum then opens to the general public on May 21.

During the Dedication Period, the Museum will remain open 24 hours per day, allowing members of this community to visit when it is best for them. Keeping the Museum’s doors open for 24 hours during this period will also serve as a small tribute to the thousands of Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers who worked around the clock in the aftermath of 9/11 as the city, the nation and the world supported them. The previews are free, but reservations are required. Learn more at 911memorial.org/dedication.

The Museum includes two core exhibitions at the foundation, or bedrock, of the historic trade center complex. The memorial exhibition – called “In Memoriam” – pays tribute to the 2,983 men, women and children killed on 9/11 and in the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. The historical exhibition tells the story of what happened on 9/11 at the three attack sites and around the world. It also explores what led up to the terror strikes, examines the aftermath and shows how 9/11 continues to shape our world.

The history is told through monumental and personal artifacts, photographs, audio and video footage, first-person testimonials, and personal possessions and memorabilia.

“We are honored that the first people to experience this Museum will be the men and women who came to our aid and protected us on 9/11, the families of the innocent victims killed that day, and the survivors who lived to tell the tale of an unimaginable horror so that we may learn from the past. The Museum is built upon their incredible stories,” 9/11 Memorial Chair Michael R. Bloomberg said. “Through its long commitment to educate future generations and to safeguard an important American history, building the Museum is in large part the answer to the violence of the 9/11 attacks. The stories of heroism, of valor and the unwavering spirit felt and witnessed on that day, and the ensuing months, will be told for years to come after the Museum’s doors open to visitors from around the world.”

“September 11 is a day that profoundly changed New York and the nation,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “The Memorial Museum will bring New Yorkers together in the same spirit of unity we showed after this senseless act of terror. I am proud to pay tribute to the lives that were lost and the resilience of our community, and it is only fitting we dedicate this Memorial Museum to survivors, families of the victims and first responders.”

“The 9/11 Memorial Museum will be an intensely emotional experience for many as they are reminded of the magnitude of the loss of life on that awful day. Yet, it will undoubtedly fulfill its visitors as they are reminded of the heroism of first responders, the spirit of the survivors and our dedication as a nation to protecting our freedom while combating terrorism and evil around the globe,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said. “My congratulations to all involved in creating what will be a lasting and magnificent national tribute for millions to experience for years to come.”

“The 9/11 Memorial Museum is for all of us,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It is for those of us who witnessed the events, either with our own eyes or on TV, and are still struggling to make sense of it. It is for future generations who will first encounter 9/11 as history, but who must come to understand it as something real and terrible, something that must never happen again. But most of all, it is for the survivors, the families, the rescue and recovery workers, the first responders. We thank them for sharing the stories with the world, so that we may learn from them.”

“It will be a tremendous privilege to walk the completed 9/11 Memorial Museum for the first time with those who are a part of this defining period of our nation’s history,” 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said. “When the Museum opens to the public on May 21, millions will come to further understand the experiences, courageous actions, and terrible losses that we saw on 9/11 and in the aftermath. The Museum will forever remind us of the capacity we have to come together when the times require.”

“The opening of this key component of the World Trade Center site is a watershed moment and a testament to the hard work and cooperation over the years between our staff and the 9/11 Memorial,” Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye said. “This Museum will ensure that the events of 9/11, and the memories of the 84 Port Authority staff and thousands of others who were murdered that day, live on for generations.”

“While the events of 9/11 are the foundation of the visitor experience, the Museum does more than facilitate learning about the attacks,” 9/11 Memorial Museum Director Alice Greenwald said. “As much about 9/12 as it is about 9/11, the Museum provides a case study in how ordinary people acted in extraordinary circumstances, their acts of kindness, compassion, and generosity of spirit demonstrating the profoundly constructive effect we can have on each other’s lives by the choices we make, even in the face of unspeakable destruction. The 9/11 Memorial Museum takes you on a journey into the heart of memory as an agent of transformation, empowering each of us to seek a deeper understanding of what it means to be a human being living in an interdependent world at the start of the 21st century.”

Tickets to the Museum for visits when it opens to the general public are available at 911memorial.org, beginning March 26. There are various discounts and admission is free Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. 9/11 family members do not have to pay an admission to visit the Museum. 9/11 rescue and recovery workers who are registered with the Memorial also visit for free.